Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

126 reviews

koiolee's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Maybe I'll up the star rating after i mull it all over. But this book was incredibly slow. Wonderful prose and addictive writing. I'm left feeling like I'm a pig trotting through mud. I'm happy, but still going so very slow. I think this book would be wonderful for people interested in classics or Greek for them to cross reference, find lil tidbits, analyze why certain paragraphs were there necessary or even what they're alluding to. Unfortunately that's not me, i did not do that and it was a fine enough read. A bit long, a bit tedious, but not a bad read at all. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Violence, Stalking, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Classism, Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Death, Body horror, Incest, Hate crime, Gun violence, Drug abuse, Antisemitism, Alcoholism, Rape, Racism, Suicide, Self harm, Mental illness, Islamophobia, Grief, Gore, Gaslighting, Drug use, Murder, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Medical content, Addiction, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

piikasmalls's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Toxic friendship, Gun violence, Drug use, Alcohol, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, and Self harm

Moderate: Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Alcoholism, Incest, Violence, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Xenophobia, Cursing, Racism, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, and Grief

Minor: Blood

cherryfreckle's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Suicide attempt, Cursing, Drug abuse, Murder, Suicide, Violence, Alcohol, Drug use, Incest, Alcoholism, Classism, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Medical trauma, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Religious bigotry, and Medical content

Minor: Death of parent, Cancer, Vomit, Eating disorder, and Misogyny

dhritidipa7's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Antisemitism, Emotional abuse, Suicide, Violence, Body horror, Bullying, Drug use, Physical abuse, Blood, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Animal death, Eating disorder, Incest, Islamophobia, Murder, Racial slurs, Suicide attempt, Death, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Animal cruelty, Gun violence, Homophobia, Sexism, Religious bigotry, and Toxic relationship

emilyvelle's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

The first ~25% was very slow and I was considering giving up, but then Ms. Donna got my attention & I was hooked and engaged! This was such a fascinating story that I want to write an essay about this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Racial slurs, Alcoholism, Xenophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Blood, Gore, and Suicide

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Classism, Toxic friendship, Antisemitism, and Bullying

Minor: Misogyny, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, and Incest

beckyg1016's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

2.0

The book description seems, to me, incredibly misleading. "Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor" - you mean the one who barely shows up at all, has minimal lines, and doesn't seem to influence anyone but Henry.  Henry is the driving force of this story and all of its actors. "...discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries." - You mean that one time? While that event is the catalyst for all others, it is not the point of the story - these characters don't "find a new way of thinking and living" - they spend a semester trying to avoid getting caught for a crime they are only somewhat remorseful about and then move on with their lives in much the same way as all of their "humdrum" classmates. 
Additionally, as noted in the Content Warnings section, Bunny is a difficult character to read. I get that you aren't supposed to like him, he is typical for the time, etc. but I was uncomfortable nearly every time he opened his mouth and that, at least, puts you on the side of the other characters. I surely did not miss him once he was gone.
To be fair, Tartt has a lovely writing voice. If she didn't, this would absolutely be my first DNF of the year. The story was captivating for maybe 250/550 pages - the rest was just a push to finish so I could move on to the next book in my TBR pile.
Every book has its reader - and I've seen plenty of people giving this book high ratings - so maybe that reader is you, and you will love it. I hope so. It certainly wasn't for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Murder, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Alcoholism, Suicide, Homophobia, and Self harm

Moderate: Drug use, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Stalking, Sexism, Classism, Racism, Animal cruelty, Incest, Toxic friendship, Religious bigotry, and Homophobia

bellbirdie's review against another edition

dark funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Xenophobia, and Racism

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Classism, Murder, and Incest

sparrow_1's review against another edition

funny mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Xenophobia, Suicide, Blood, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Drug use, Violence, Death, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Gun violence, and Murder

Minor: Incest and Toxic relationship

esther_d's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Suicide, Death, Drug use, Incest, and Murder

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, Islamophobia, Antisemitism, and Homophobia

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Rape, and Xenophobia

starryfruits's review

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

these bozos had to the be absolute fucking wierdos on campus due to juliens little social experimenting, i couldnt enjoy anything bc everyone made me too mad and i couldnt flow with what was happeneing bc richard was kept out of the loop in an exausting way
Despite the rating im giving it these characters haunt me and i have an infinite amount of questions and i like the book, just not reading it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Suicide, and Drug use

Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Homophobia, and Murder

Minor: Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Incest, Physical abuse, and Suicide attempt